Facilitating and evaluating public participation in urban parks management

Active citizen involvement is driven by assumptions about inclusivity, equity and fairness and as such is part of an agenda for devolving power, largely from local authorities to individual persons or groups. Few theorists and practitioners doubt the benefits of such deliberative involvement but there is, as yet, little guidance on how to initiate, establish and support individual groups, nor how to evaluate their processes and outcomes. This lack of guidance often leads to groups being inadequately or inappropriately supported which, consequently, reduces their ability to engage in the very local political processes that they were initiated to address. This paper offers a new approach to the creation and support of such groups and outlines the design of two participation evaluation matrices, one to monitor the process and one to evaluate the outcome of the participatory exercise, providing a valuable feed-back tool for participants and facilitators. The paper concludes that it is important to have the financial commitment and willingness of the local authority to recognise public involvement as an educative process, to empower people and to allow groups to develop and own their achievements.     

Assessments of sustainable waste management alternatives: How to support complex knowledge management

The vision of sustainable development is a driving force for change. To understand more about processes of local policy making, and their prerequisites for such change, it is relevant to examine how individual actors use briefing material and how they make assessments in complex planning situations. This study is about the processing of knowledge in a case of planning of a future waste management system. In this case, the written briefing material was shown to have less impact on the arguments and assessments of participating actors. Consequently, process facilitation for complex planning situations needs to support and strive for collective, reflective and transparent knowledge management. High-quality process support thus needs to have its emphasis on arguments, rather than on particular assessment tools and the written briefing material.     

Bridging Disciplines, Knowledge Systems and Cultures in Pest Management

The success of research in integrated environmental and natural resource management relies on the participation and involvement of different disciplines and stakeholders. This can be difficult to achieve in practice because many initiatives fail to address the underlying social processes required for successful engagement and social learning. We used an action research approach to support a research-based group with a range of disciplinary and stakeholder expertise to critically reflect on their engagement practice and identify lessons around how to collaborate more effectively. This approach is provided here as a guide that can be used to support reflective research practice for engagement in other integration-based initiatives. This paper is set in the context of an integrated wildlife management research case study in New Zealand. We illustrate how multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches can provide a framework for considering the different conversations that need to occur in an integrated research program. We then outline rubrics that list the criteria required in inter- and trans-disciplinary collaborations, along with examples of effective engagement processes that directly support integration through such efforts. Finally, we discuss the implications of these experiences for other researchers and managers seeking to improve engagement and collaboration in integrated science, management and policy initiatives. Our experiences reaffirm the need for those involved in integrative initiatives to attend to the processes of engagement in both formal and informal settings, to provide opportunities for critical reflective practice, and to look for measures of success that acknowledge the importance of effective social process.     

Clarifying relationships between participatory approaches,issues, processes,and results,through crosscutting case analysis in Japan’s environmental,energy, and food policy areas

Participatory public engagement approaches such as Consensus Conferences, Deliberative Polling^®, and Planning Cells have been used to try and resolve environmental disputes in Japan; however, the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches have not been analyzed adequately or comprehensively. This paper evaluates practical applications of each of the above participatory approaches and conducts a crosscutting analysis of these applications to evaluate how effectively each approach provides scientific information to participants and to consider how the quality of deliberations that occur during these processes affect their outputs. Based on existing classification of participatory processes, and methodology for public involvement in US environmental decision-making, this study compares and contrasts the processes and outcomes of 25 participatory planning case studies in Japan. After compiling a case inventory of participatory approaches, the features of one approach are documented using qualitative analysis, and the aspects of four other approaches are confirmed using crosscutting analysis. In so doing, the likely strengths and weaknesses of each approach are suggested as follows. When discussions require an understanding of scientific knowledge, the Consensus Conference tends to be more suitable than the DP approach. If the consensus of participants is expected, the Consensus Conference is also thought to be suitable. But through a DP process or Simplified Planning Cells approach, we can know the quantitative portion of each opinion through results of ballots. In sum, new participatory approach that incorporates strengths of the Consensus Conference and the Simplified Planning Cells into Local Environmental Planning is needed. Thus, the quality of consensus building could be improved.     

Opportunities for landowner participation in local planning

Much has been written on public participation in local planning but very little on the involvement of landowners. This is despite the clear financial motives which encourage many landowners to participate in the local planning process. The paper demonstrates how in one case in West Yorkshire, an important historic landowner was able to exert a substantial influence on the pattern of land use allocations in an adopted local plan. Although the particular characteristics of the case study may not be found elsewhere, it helps to identify how more substantial research in this often neglected area might proceed.     

Parkmanagement as a tool for careful industrial land‐use planning

During the second half of the 1990s the combination of ecological and economic targets in industrial land‐use planning became an official part of spatial‐economic policy in the Netherlands. A growing number of business locations are now being developed or re‐developed as ‘sustainable business sites’. At the same time, ‘parkmanagement’ came into existence as a new tool for development and control of business sites for industry and services. Parkmanagement is now regarded as one of the obvious instruments to realize sustainable (or ‘careful’) land use on business parks. However, there is now a question about whether it is wrong for local governments (which in the Dutch case are responsible for most land development schemes) to have so much participation in parkmanagement initiatives. There is a threat that local governments are welcoming parkmanagement as a fashionable way to impose new regulations on business establishments, and ignore the evidence from practice. Such evidence shows that parkmanagement is most successful when organized with the involvement of private enterprises. This would also be more in line with the modern interaction‐oriented planning theory (consensus planning). The paper describes the principal dilemmas facing local governments in business site development, the theoretical options for influencing the development process of the sites, and the set of actions that could be part of a parkmanagement strategy. These can be arranged on a ‘ladder’ or range of activities, from rather simple facilities serving individual companies' needs, such as maintenance and security, to more complex co‐operation projects in combined transport or energy supply, and ultimately lead to schemes for connecting material flows of production processes. The successive stages of the ladder of business site facilities can be combined with different forms and stages of process organization.     

Using social network analysis to examine planner involvement in environmentally oriented planning processes led by non-planning professions

Broad stakeholder involvement cannot be assumed in all environmental planning and management processes that have critical land use dimensions. This paper illustrates how concepts and techniques from social network analysis (SNA) can be used to examine and better understand the roles of one type of stakeholders, planners, in environmentally oriented planning and management processes led by other professions. Two cases of natural hazard mitigation planning led by emergency managers illustrate the usefulness of three SNA concepts of network structural characteristics in understanding how differences in planner involvement may influence incorporation of land use approaches in local natural hazard mitigation plans aimed at reducing long term risks from natural hazards.     

Overcoming socio-ecological vulnerability through community-based social learning: the case of Lomba do Pinheiro in Porto Alegre,Brazil

ABSTRACT

Community-based initiatives and collective learning practices are key themes in sustainability transition processes. This paper presents the results of a participatory study that investigated a local initiative in the community of Lomba do Pinheiro in south Brazil to examine social learning processes in the context of socio-ecological vulnerability. In this community, a group composed of local residents and members representing the public sector and local educational institutions has promoted several learning-oriented actions aimed at restoring a degraded local watershed and improving residents’ livelihoods. This study used social learning as a lens through which the initiative enacted by this group may be understood, and analysed how local conditions, determined by a context of vulnerability, have influenced local processes. We applied a multi-dimensional analytical framework that included individual, collective, and territorial dimensions. The analysis focused on the leading group, the individuals who comprise it, and their actions in the territory, while considering local constraints. Our findings highlight the importance of (1) shared values, mutual trust, and affective bonds for group cohesion as well as concerted action, equalisation of diverse languages within the group, knowledge integration, and initiative persistence; (2) a practical-reflexive approach based on a sequence of actions that catalyses group learning and facilitates advancement within the wider community; and (3) the role of inter-sectoral articulations and the establishment of partnerships to support actions. This paper raises questions about the limits of an exclusively bottom-up approach to solve complex problems in the context of extremely precarious conditions.     

Managing Public Forests: Understanding the Role of Collaborative Planning

/ As federal land management agencies such as the USDA Forest Service increasingly choose to implement collaborative methods of public participation, research is needed to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the technique, to identify barriers to effective implementation of collaborative processes, and to provide recommendations for increasing its effectiveness. This paper reports on the findings of two studies focused on the experiences of Forest Service employees and their external partners as they work to implement collaborative planning processes in national forest management. The studies show both similarities and differences between agency employees and their partners in terms of how they evaluate their collaborative experiences. The studies reveal that both Forest Service employees and external partners are supportive of collaborative planning and expect it to continue in the future, both see the trust and relationships built during the process as being its greatest benefit, and both see the Forest Service's organizational culture as the biggest barrier to effective collaborative efforts. The groups differed in terms of evaluating each other's motivation for participating in the process and in whether the process was a good use of time and resources, with external partners seeing it as too drawn out and expensive. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications and changes necessary to increase the effectiveness of collaborative efforts within the Forest Service and other federal land management agencies.KEY WORDS: Public land management; Collaborative planning; National forests; Public participation     

Linking management and livelihood in environmental conservation: case of the Korup National Park Cameroon

Biodiversity conservation has emerged within the past two decades as one of the most important global challenges confronting national planners, world bodies, professionals and academics. Governments faced with increasing biodiversity loss as a result of human activities have resorted to the creation of protected areas as a strategy to both slow down habitat loss and/or degradation and eventually mitigate species extension and reduction rates. However, the creation of a protected area can have strong implications on the livelihoods of people inhabiting the forest and depending on it, especially those caught within its borders. The involvement of such inhabitants in the management process of the protected area can be profitable. This paper discusses the case of the Korup National Park, Cameroon, considered in the late 1980s by some to be a flagship of conservation and development efforts, and later on in the late 1990s by others as a catastrophic failure as an example of integrated conservation and development. As a means of updating the program's management information base, an in-depth participatory and socio-ecological survey was conducted by some of the program's technical staff. This study aimed at appraising the extent to which the Park's human community of 4200 inhabitants continued to relate to its resources and depend on them for their livelihood. The aim was to evaluate the potential links between the communities' livelihood and the long-term management and survival of the Park as the important biodiversity conservation zone it had been found to be. Results indicate that the successful management of a Park like Korup may well depend on the involvement of the local communities; and that successful management through approaches that minimize the potential contributions and aspirations of the local people is difficult to achieve.     

Science-practice interactions linked to climate adaptation in two contexts: municipal planning and forestry in Sweden

This paper examines the science-practice interface in the process of adapting to climate change in society. This paper analyses science-based stakeholder dialogues with climate scientists, municipal officers and private individual forest owners in Sweden, and examines how local experts both share scientific knowledge and experience and integrate it into their work strategies and practices. The results demonstrate how local experts jointly conceptualise climate adaptation, how scientific knowledge is domesticated among local experts in dialogue with scientific experts, the emergence of anchoring devices, and the boundary-spanning functions that are at work in the respective sectors.     

Partnerships for local sustainability and local governance in a Tasmanian settlement

This research is concerned with effects and actions at the local level, where it is argued that local governing processes are key to developing sustainable communities. The roles of the citizen and of formal government are changing such that the implementation of sustainability praxis at the local level requires that citizens and governments reconsider both the meaning and techniques of governance. Indeed, how we are governed, participate in governing processes and internalise and accept the need for change will affect how local communities make constant and lasting a dynamic praxis of sustainability. Actors in local governments and communities may be crucial in this task—especially as facilitators, enablers, leaders and partners. In this paper we focus on the Huon Valley Council and some members of one of its communities. We examine how they are experimenting with partnerships as a form of governance to unify, control, mobilise and regulate the conduct of various actors, and how such partnerships may foster sustainability praxis in the Valley's diverse communities of place and interest.     

Partnerships for local sustainability and local governance in a Tasmanian settlement

This research is concerned with effects and actions at the local level, where it is argued that local governing processes are key to developing sustainable communities. The roles of the citizen and of formal government are changing such that the implementation of sustainability praxis at the local level requires that citizens and governments reconsider both the meaning and techniques of governance. Indeed, how we are governed, participate in governing processes and internalise and accept the need for change will affect how local communities make constant and lasting a dynamic praxis of sustainability. Actors in local governments and communities may be crucial in this task—especially as facilitators, enablers, leaders and partners. In this paper we focus on the Huon Valley Council and some members of one of its communities. We examine how they are experimenting with partnerships as a form of governance to unify, control, mobilise and regulate the conduct of various actors, and how such partnerships may foster sustainability praxis in the Valley's diverse communities of place and interest.     

Place as a social space: fields of encounter relating to the local sustainability process

The paper shows how sustainability questions relate to the local space. The local place is not a static entity, but a dynamic one, undergoing constant changes, and it is the rapid social and material processes within the given local situation that is a challenge for the Chinese villages and their integrity. The following article considers the cohesion between the dwellers' emotional co-ownership of their local space and the sustainability process as a driving force in social, economic and ecological development. We bring together the classification of the seven fields of encounter, which were developed out of the empirical data of the Chinese case study villages, and sustainability oriented management considerations for all levels of this concept. We do not pretend to know the solutions, but describe a set of interrelated fields that can be anchor points for placing the solutions and show in which fields action and intervention is possible. In our concept of sustainability, every spatial field has its special meaning, needs special measures and policies and has different connotations to concepts like responsibility, family values or communication systems. We see the social sustainability process as a support for the empowerment of the local dwellers, and the SUCCESS research has encouraged the villages to find suitable sustainability oriented solutions for their natural and societal situation. Before entering the discussion about the chances and potential of a sustainability approach for the Chinese villages, it is first necessary to accept the fact that rural villages play a primordial role in Chinese society and that their potential can strengthen future pathways for China.     

Discounted knowledges: farmers» and residents» understandings of nature conservation goals and policies

Local Biodiversity Action Plans are the preferred policy mechanism for setting and delivering local biodiversity targets in the UK. This paper reviews the kind of knowledge conservation scientists envisage being used to identify and set local targets, and explores the means of incorporating local knowledge into this process. We use a case study of a Wildlife Enhancement Scheme (WES) on the Pevensey Levels, East Sussex, to reveal the understandings that local farmers and residents have of the nature conservation goals and practices associated with the scheme. Drawing on the findings of in-depth discussion groups, we show how farmers challenge both the monopoly of knowledge conservationists profess about nature, and the enlistment of farmers on the scheme as «technicians», motivated solely by financial rewards, rather than as knowledgeable experts who also have emotional attachments and ethical values for nature. Local people use their knowledge of both local farmers, and the industry in general, to challenge the assumption that farmers can be trusted with delivering nature conservation goals. In the absence of a commitment by central government to agree widely-held environmental standards, and a more democratic process of making judgements about what local nature is worth conserving, local residents challenge existing processes designed to conserve nature that are driven by the knowledge and practices of official experts alone. The findings of the study suggest that a widening of the knowledge base on which the goals and practices of nature conservation are founded, and a more deliberative process of making decisions about what nature is important locally, will secure and strengthen public support for local biodiversity action plans.1998 Academic Press     

Bottom up and top down: analysis of participatory processes for sustainability indicator identification as a pathway to community empowerment and sustainable environmental management

The modern environmental management literature stresses the need for community involvement to identify indicators to monitor progress towards sustainable development and environmental management goals. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of participatory processes on sustainability indicator identification and environmental management in three disparate case studies. The first is a process of developing partnerships between First Nations communities, environmental groups, and forestry companies to resolve conflicts over forest management in Western Canada. The second describes a situation in Botswana where local pastoral communities worked with development researchers to reduce desertification. The third case study details an on-going government led process of developing sustainability indicators in Guernsey, UK, that was designed to monitor the environmental, social, and economic impacts of changes in the economy. The comparative assessment between case studies allows us to draw three primary conclusions. (1) The identification and collection of sustainability indicators not only provide valuable databases for making management decisions, but the process of engaging people to select indicators also provides an opportunity for community empowerment that conventional development approaches have failed to provide. (2) Multi-stakeholder processes must formally feed into decision-making forums or they risk being viewed as irrelevant by policy-makers and stakeholders. (3) Since ecological boundaries rarely meet up with political jurisdictions, it is necessary to be flexible when choosing the scale at which monitoring and decision-making occurs. This requires an awareness of major environmental pathways that run through landscapes to understand how seemingly remote areas may be connected in ways that are not immediately apparent.     

Environmental Impact Evaluation Model for Industrial Processes

This paper proposes a model to evaluate the environmental impact of manufacturing processes. This model uses the potency factor approach to classify environmental impacts into five ecological health impact groups and uses their toxicological, cancer, and physical effects as the bases to rate the seven groups of human health impacts. The environmental impacts in each impact group are reported, and their hazard scores on ecological and human health are determined. The model also generates a single score for the overall environmental impacts of a process. This single score system helps to identify, among all the viable processes, which is the most environmentally friendly process. This model can serve as a tool to highlight the potential environmental hazards of process operations and to provide information about environmental performance for decision making. The model has been developed into a computer software program, Environmental Impact Evaluation System, and is demonstrated by using the processes employed for the manufacture of paper bags.     

Joint Working within Local Government: air quality as a case-study

Air quality management (AQM) is a process of environmental control that must be embedded within a wide range of policy areas, from local-scale initiatives to international treaties, if it is to be successful. Because of the integrative aspects of AQM, it is imperative that joint working is undertaken within local authorities and other involved parties. Environmental health departments have taken the lead role in AQM as they have traditionally had responsibilities for some other aspects of pollution control. However, AQM requires input from a variety of professionals such as transport planners, land-use planners, economic development officers and Local Agenda 21 (LA21) officers, as well as environmental health professionals. This paper examines the involvement of these professions within the AQM process. Results are presented from a widespread questionnaire survey of urban local authorities in England. In the case of air quality, it is concluded that co-operation between the necessary professions is still at an early stage. Transport planners are more fully engaged with the process than are land-use planners or economic development officers. In order that the joint working process develops appropriately, it is suggested that LA21 officers have an important role in facilitating inter-professional working to support the AQM process.     

The Potentials and Limitations of Self-reliance and Self-sufficiency at the Local Level: views from southern Sweden

This paper describes a theoretical framework for thinking about self-reliance and self-sufficiency at the local level as one strategy for sustainable local development. Localisation can be regarded as a reaction to the process of globalisation, and can be interpreted in terms of governance and resource use. Self-reliance is related to control over decision making, whereas self-sufficiency refers to fulfilling an individual's or group's physical needs, and thus is linked to resource use. Territoriality can also be interpreted in terms of decision making and resource use. The findings of an interview study concerning self-reliance and self-sufficiency at the local level are presented and discussed in relation to the framework. The strengths of self-reliance and self-sufficiency as strategies for sustainable local development are that these provide opportunities for human-scale, territorial development processes, which through their local scale generate the possibilities of taking into account feedback from the natural environment, and building redundancy into the global system.     

“Other people’s initiatives”: exploring mediation and appropriation of place as barriers to community-based climate change adaptation

Adaptation planning at the community level takes on various forms. It generally involves a process of defining climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and actions that can build community resilience. Typically, these processes rely on climate experts and policy-makers to define what is at risk, and therefore what is worthy of investment and protection. Emerging approaches to community-based adaptation-planning advocate for stronger community control over these processes. Drawing on a place-based approach to adaptation, this paper examines place meaning as a co-constructed process. It explores how this process shapes opportunities for community-based climate action in Churchill, Canada. Results indicate that community members acknowledge many competing threats to their sense of place, and suggest that this competition may reduce the perceived need to prioritise climate action to protect connections to place. Results also reveal a concern among community members that local place identity has been appropriated for economic gain, which may further reduce the drive to act in protection of an already exploited sense of place. Overall, findings support calls to adopt place-based perspectives to enhance the capacity of adaptation planning to understand local needs, values, and levers for action.